That’s not to say the space freed up by the headphone jack is wasted. Apple could have used some of that space elsewhere, especially to put the “taptic engine,” or one of the phone’s vibrating motors, closer to the new home button.

“That jack takes up a lot of space in the phone, a lot of space. And there’s a lot of more important things we can provide for the consumer than that jack,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this week.

Apple told The Verge that the plastic is a “barometric vent” – the new iPhone is water-resistant, which messed with the device’s built-in barometer.